Many college students, myself included, find that one of the best parts about being here is not being with our parents. After 18 years of hanging around them, it can be pretty nice to have miles and miles of cornfields separating me from their influence. After a while, though, it gets a little wei…Many college students, myself included, find that one of the best parts about being here is not being with our parents. After 18 years of hanging around them, it can be pretty nice to have miles and miles of cornfields separating me from their influence.

After a while, though, it gets a little weird not having them around. Universities across the country have come up with a genius solution to this problems: parents weekends. These events give students a chance to impress their parents with their newfound maturity (hopefully), or send them into fits of despair over how little they clean (more likely).

The University is somewhat unique, however, in having not one, but two, parents weekends: one for dads in the fall, and another for moms in the spring. This is probably just an old tradition, but it presents a few issues, especially for guys. Now, I love my mom, but a look at the planned Moms Day 2009 activities has me a bit concerned. There’s a flower show, which is bad enough. Even worse, though, is the planned craft show. I was scarred in childhood by being dragged along to far too many craft shows to count by my mom and other relatives. I’ll pass on that. Oh, there’s a musical too. What’s a guy to do?

Dads Weekend takes place smack in the middle of the football season. The game usually serves as the major event of that weekend, with tailgating lasting all morning and post-game activities stretching into the evening. What do moms get? Football season is long over by April, and so is basketball season. All I know is that my mom prefers to come down on Dads Weekend, and I’m sure there are plenty of moms who feel the same way.

To me, though, Moms and Dads weekends have always felt like they serve different purposes for different people, whether they’re meant to or not. For guys, Dads Weekend means tailgating, going to the game, going to the bars after and realizing that you and your dad (30 years ago) aren’t that different. For better or worse, it’s a chance for dads to relive their glory days for a weekend.

From what I’ve seen, it’s much the same for girls on Moms Weekend. Have you ridden the 22 around on Saturday night of Moms Weekend or been in the bars? Those moms are having a good time. What do girls do on Dads Weekend, though? I’m sure some of them go out with their fathers, but it seems like more of a laid-back, get-dinner-and-go-grocery-shopping affair. Same with guys on Moms Weekend. And the same when both of them come down at once.

Cross-gender parental bonding is always good, but having separate Moms and Dads Weekends just make sense. The ladies get to have their special weekend with their mom, while guys get to enjoy male bonding with their dads in the fall. Put these weekends together, and you end up with another boring night spent at home, wishing your parents weren’t there.